by Janie Crouch
He shrugged. “Yeah. But it’s Saturday.” Everybody obviously knew they were not meant for reading.
Finn hung up. “That was Frank Jenkins and his crew. They’re confirmed for an overall basics course for Monday. After that, they’ll decide what else they’re interested in.”
“Great. A little more Frank is just what we need around here. Is it officially too early for me to call ‘not it’?”
Finn stood. “I think the official phrase is ‘Nose goes’ and I’ve already called it.”
“So that’s settled. We’ll make Aiden teach the class.”
Finn chuckled. “He’ll love that.”
“Are you guys going into town?”
Finn came over and ruffled Ethan’s hair. The kid beamed up at his dad, his face so full of love it was almost hard to look at. “Yeah, we’re going to the Frontier to meet with a private tutor Ethan’s the education department suggested.”
“You don’t have to go to the school or an office?”
“Nope. She wanted to meet somewhere E felt comfortable. So, we already like her better, don’t we, sport?”
Ethan grinned—a look so similar to his dad’s it was scary. “Aunt Wavy and Trey’s pie makes me comfortable.”
Zac laughed. “Me too, buddy. Can I catch a ride into town with you guys?”
“Yeah. But I don’t know how long we’ll be.”
“That’s okay. I’ll get some lunch, then grab my bike. It’s still at The Eagle’s Nest.”
Finn looked like he was bursting at the seams to ask questions but couldn’t because of the presence of an impressionable seven-year-old.
But as soon as they arrived at the Frontier, and Ethan asked if he could go sit at the bar and talk to Trey while the man cooked, Finn pounced.
“All right, Zac. Spill. How did you get home last night if your bike’s still in town?”
They slid into a booth. Zac sighed. “I actually took Annie to my place. We drove her car.”
Finn’s mouth dropped open. “Your place? You never take women there.”
Zac shrugged. “I wanted her there.”
“Please tell me you did not kick her out in the middle of the night.”
He rolled his eyes. “No, for Christ’s sake. I did not.” Admittedly, he had never been one for actually sleeping with a woman. He’d never wanted that sort of intimacy. He had with Annie. He’d loved pulling her in next to him, her long legs entwining with his.
He’d loved waking her up in the hour just before dawn by kissing his way down her shoulders, taking a long time on her breasts—feeling her breathing pick up even though she was still asleep. By the time he’d worked his way down her belly and eased his lips up and down her thighs, she’d woken up, those big brown eyes staring at him as he’d draped one of those shapely legs over his shoulder and proceeded to make sure she was fully awake.
“She have an emergency or something?” Finn asked. “Occupational hazard with an ER doc, I guess.”
Wavy chose that second to sit down in the booth next to her brother, sliding two glasses of water toward each of them. “You talking about Anne? She came by here this morning. Evidently she left Casanova sleeping and took off.”
Finn spewed the water he’d just taken a sip of. “Oh my God, she Coyote-Uglied you?” He turned to Wavy. “That’s when you wake up next to someone so horrible that you would rather chew your arm off than face—”
“I know what it means. And yes, that’s exactly what happened.”
Zac resisted the urge to tell them both what they could do to themselves. “She came in here? What did she say?”
Wavy began to giggle. “She told me she went home with you and that it was nice.”
The word Zac muttered under his breath was not meant for polite company. “Nice?”
“You know Anne. She’s not one to elaborate.” Her laughter died down. “She’s trying to protect herself, Zac. And I’ll admit, both Riley and I warned her that she should.”
“Why the hell would you tell her that?”
“You date, but you’re closed off. You never seem to be interested in any woman seriously. Anne doesn’t play casual; you know that.”
He sighed. “Maybe I’m not either.” Hell, nothing about Annie had ever been casual for him.
“She’s in waters she doesn’t know how to navigate.” Wavy stood back up when Trey yelled that an order was ready. “She doesn’t know exactly how she feels about you, and she especially doesn’t know how to deal with all the attention that’s being flung her way. Like Frank Jenkins asking her out.”
“What? This morning?”
“Yep.” She backed toward the kitchen window. “He was drunk, and she, of course, said no. But now she’s going to be getting that attention from all sorts of guys.”
He watched Wavy grab a few plates and put one in front of Ethan, who was still chatting with the cook, and take the others across the diner. She was right, Annie would be getting a lot of attention.
He thought they’d established a connection last night. He sure as hell had. She’d felt it too. He knew she had. What they’d done last night had been so much more than physical—although that part had been mind-blowing.
Zac stood. “I’m going to talk to Annie.”
Finn cocked an eyebrow. “To tell her that last night was nice for you too?”
“Annie works best when she knows all the parameters. That’s how her brain functions.” She may not choose him once she had all the facts, and that was her choice. But he would still make sure she had them, including the most important one: he wanted her. Not just for one night. Not just casually. But as something much more serious. “She works in exacts, not—”
His eyes tracked to the woman walking through the door, dressed in jeans and a blazer, long blonde hair framing her small face. This was not good. He sat back down. “Oh shit.”
“What?” Finn turned around. “Oh shit.”
Charlotte Devereux.
Zac shook his head. “I never thought she’d be back here again. I thought we were all beneath her.”
Finn swallowed hard, eyes narrowing. “Yeah, me especially.” He stood as she walked closer.
“Your Royal Highness.” Finn bowed with an exaggerated flourish. “On behalf of the peons and plebeians of Oak Creek, we welcome Your Majesty into our humble abode.”
Surprise flashed through Charlotte’s blue eyes before they narrowed, her shoulders straightening and neck stiffening, making her look more like the regal figure Finn had accused her of being.
“Plebeians.” Zac would swear she was looking down her nose at Finn, although she was nearly a full foot shorter. “Wouldn’t have expected you to know that word, Bollinger.”
“Why are you here, Charlie?”
Her eyes narrowed at the nickname. “I didn’t realize it was a sin or illegal for me to enter a public restaurant in Oak Creek.”
Finn shook his head, arms crossed over his chest. “It’s not, just in bad judgment.”
Charlotte blew out a breath. “Look, Finn, I’m not here to see you, okay? I’m here to meet a family to help their son with some tutoring.”
“You’re the learning specialist Mrs. Johnson suggested for Ethan?”
“Yes, I’m here to meet with a child named Ethan. The agency doesn’t give me a last name until after the parents have approved me as a tutor. Do you know him and his family?”
“Ethan is right behind you at the bar. And he’s my son.”
“You have a son?”
“Sure do, sweetheart. And you think you’re getting near him? That would be a hell no with a side of no chance. I don’t know what your game is or who you paid to make Mrs. Johnson think you’re a specialist at anything, but you need to leave. Now.”
Something flashed across Charlotte’s face— Desperation? Fear? Weariness?— but it was gone before Zac could figure out what. Not that he really cared. In this battle, he was firmly on Team Finn.
“I see.” If possible, her chin lifted even
higher, the wealthy-girl facade wrapped around her like a well-fitting cloak. “Good-bye, then.”
She was out the door a moment later.
Finn sunk back down into the booth.
“You okay, man?” Zac asked.
Finn shrugged, then took a sip of his water. “What the hell just happened?”
“Charlotte Devereux happened.”
“Why would she work for a tutoring company? That makes zero sense.”
“Do you think she’s moved back to Oak Creek?”
Finn shook his head and shrugged. “I don’t give a damn.”
“Dude, you give so many they’re practically visible from space.”
“I’ll have to call Mrs. Johnson and tell her it didn’t work out. See if there’s someone else. Why would Charlotte pretend to be an education specialist?” Finn stood and called out to Ethan. “E, no meeting any teachers today. You’re off the hook.”
The boy hooted and gave Trey a high five as he walked by the kitchen window. Finn just looked pensive.
Zac stood. “You okay? I still want to go talk to Annie.”
Finn shook his head, his normal easy-going smile nowhere to be found. “Women are too complicated, brother. Get out while you can. It’s too damn hard.”
Zac put a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Nothing worth doing is ever easy.”
He didn’t wait for Finn to respond, just tousled Ethan’s hair and waved to Trey and Waverly as he walked out the door and straight to the hospital.
He didn’t have a plan, didn’t know what he was going to say to her. But he wouldn’t let her exit this morning grow into some big wall between them.
Zac was becoming more familiar with the hospital than he’d ever expected. But he had no idea where he’d find Annie now and doubted he’d be allowed to walk around unaccompanied for long.
He was heading down the hall to the nurses’ station when he heard some women talking around a corner. He stopped when he heard his name.
“—doesn’t matter how great of a doctor she is, there’s no way Zac is going to stay with someone like Dr. Griffin very long. Some things aren’t meant to be.”
“Oh yeah, totally. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re already done. He scratched that itch and that’s that. Not that he’ll be mean. He’ll find a way to let her down easy.”
Small town. He loved Oak Creek, but for God’s sake, the rumor mill here was vicious. And he knew there was only one way to stop it.
He stepped around the corner. “Actually, I don’t have any plans to let Annie down easy. I don’t have any to let her down at all. She, on the other hand, may decide she has other, better, options, but I plan to be around until she comes to her senses.”
Both women—he’d seen them before but couldn’t think of their names—laughed nervously. “Hey, Zac,” one said.
The other shrugged. “Yeah, we were just speculating. Didn’t mean any harm.”
He smiled. “Wanted to make sure I set the record straight. Do you happen to know where Dr. Griffin is?”
“I’m right here.” Annie stepped around the opposite corner.
The two nurses flushed in mortification to be caught by both people they’d been gossiping about. Within seconds they made excuses and left.
“Busy?” he asked Annie.
“No. I came in to work because I was...wound up. But I was about to head home.”
He leaned against the wall. “So, there was no emergency that called you here? No triple appendectomy that made you leave in such a hurry this morning that you couldn’t wake me up and say good-bye?”
She flushed deeper than the gossiping nurses had. “I thought it would be better that way. That it was how one-night stands worked. I didn’t want things to be awkward.”
“It’s going to be quite a bit awkward if I have to throw you over my shoulder and carry you out of here.”
“Is that what you want?” she asked softly.
“Well, what I really want is for you to come with me, sleep the rest of the afternoon—because I don’t like those circles under your eyes even if you have them because of all the sexy times going on last night—then let me make you dinner before showing you more sexy times.”
He heard a female sigh around the corner and knew this conversation would be blasted all over the place within the hour.
He didn’t care.
He stepped closer and cupped her cheeks. “What’s between us is definitely not a one-night stand, okay? Now kiss me and promise me no more running away.”
“I promise.” She went up on tiptoe and pressed her lips to his before backing away. “And there’s no such thing as a triple appen—”
His arms wrapped around her and yanked her back to him. He slid his hand into the hair at the nape of her neck and held her still, so he could plunder her mouth. After a few seconds, she sighed as she gave herself over to it.
That was the only sigh that mattered.
Over the next few days, Anne developed a much better understanding of what it must be like to suffer from multiple personality disorder. There was Dr. Griffin, the emergency room physician who could handle any crisis coolly and calmly, who spoke with authority, moved with brisk efficiency, and commanded respect.
And then there was Annie, who had flown in the back door to the hospital and into her office this morning, ninety seconds from being late, hair damp and hanging down her back, and one shoe untied all because she hadn’t been able to get Zac out of her bed.
Admittedly, it hadn’t been completely his fault. She’d had to leave her car parked at the Frontier Diner because she’d rushed in to grab breakfast pastries and coffee, and when she’d come back out, it hadn’t started. She’d then had to walk as fast as she could without spilling her coffee through the drizzle to get here.
Which meant it wasn’t all his fault. Just a big chunk.
She caught sight of herself in the mirror in the corner of her office and had to stop and laugh.
She was a mess. Zac, with the help of the rain and a cantankerous car, had made her a mess.
She began to braid her hair, so it wouldn’t be in her way, but she couldn’t ignore the healthy flush of her cheeks and the smile she couldn’t quite tamp down.
Zac Mackay might make her a mess, but it was a beautiful, happy one.
This Annie, she may not know what to do with exactly. This Annie got a little uncomfortable with all the rumors floating around about her relationship, spoke more softly and still with an occasional stutter when she was uncomfortable. But she couldn’t deny—didn’t want to—that this woman was part of her personality too.
She finished her braid and bent down to tie her shoe, wincing at the aches from muscles that had gotten more of a workout in the last week than they had her whole life. Zac had been at her house, or she at his place, whenever they could carve out time.
He’d come over at eleven at night if that’s when she got off—cue eyebrow wag and giggle about getting off. And she’d spent yesterday at Linear Tactical, since she hadn’t had to work, watching from the swing on the front porch of the office as Zac taught a class for a couple hours until Aiden arrived. She didn’t even mind that the class had involved Frank, Shawn, and their posse. Watching Zac go through some fighting moves and weapons tactics sans shirt had gotten her so hot and bothered that she wouldn’t have minded if he’d been teaching the Muppets.
Once Aiden had taken over the class, Zac had made his way to her, leaning against the railing. “Want to get some lunch?”
She’d stood and walked straight into the V his long legs made, wrapped her hand around his head, and fisted his hair, pulling his mouth an inch from her own. “No. I don’t want lunch right now.”
Her lips had covered his and she’d devoured him, reveling in the feeling of his large hands grabbing her hips and yanking her closer. Of his breathing coming faster. Because of her.
After a couple minutes, the catcalls from the guys had finally made it through the sensual fog of her mind. She’d
opened her eyes, still plastered to him. Zac had chuckled against her lips, wrapped his arms under her hips, and carried her, her legs around his waist, to his apartment over the barn. He’d flipped the guys off as they’d gone by and barely gotten them up the stairs and to that same wall inside his door before he’d plastered her there and taken her.
No doubt the story of them together as Zac carried her across the compound was going to spread to everyone, since Frank had seen it. It was probably already all over the hospital.
Leaving her office, she walked briskly to the nurses’ station. If Susan had heard about any of the shenanigans, it didn’t show. But then Anne saw Sheriff Nelson standing at the edge of the station, looking at his phone. Her heart dropped. Not again.
“Oh no, Sheriff.” She set down the chart she’d picked up and walked over to him. “Was another woman raped?”
“No, no. No more that have been reported.”
She let out a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank God.”
The older man nodded. “And Rogers and I have spread the word to a wider area to make sure other counties know we could have a serial rapist on our hands. Nothing will be taken as an isolated event. Of course, if the perp moves on to different states entirely, then future attacks may never be connected to the ones here.”
They both knew this guy wasn’t going to stop. Not after getting away with it two, possibly more, times. Like the sheriff said, it was just a matter of when and if the cases would be linked.
“Please, let me know if I can help in any way.” And she would, to help Kimmy and Veronica. Even if it meant getting up on the stand at a trial and stuttering in front of everyone, she would do it. “Is there something else we can help you with?”
“Um, no.” He looked sheepishly over at Nurse Lusher. “I’m waiting to take Susan to eat on her break.”
“Oh!” The surprised squeak popped out of her before Anne could stop it. She looked at Susan to find the normally unflappable woman fidgeting. “Yes, of course. I’ll get caught up on all the charts without you, Susan. Please, go ahead.”
A few minutes later the two walked, a little too closely to be just friends, down the hall toward the cafeteria. As Anne headed toward a patient’s room, she heard two nurses.
